Detective Comics Vol 1 168

"Batman: "The Man Behind the Red Hood!"": The state university invites Batman and Robin to be guest instructors. After a month of preparing a crime class in crime-fighting techniques, Batman decides to give the class a test case for a

Synopsis for Batman: "The Man Behind the Red Hood!"

The state university invites Batman and Robin to be guest instructors. After a month of preparing a crime class in crime-fighting techniques, Batman decides to give the class a test case for a crime he never solved. The case was about a master criminal by the name of the Red Hood who escaped Batman and Robin by diving into a vat of chemicals from the Ace Playing Card Company and disappeared before he was ever caught.

The university crime class makes headlines by reopening the ten year old case which in turn prompts the Red Hood to come out of retirement and rob the campus payroll office. The Red Hood escapes Batman and Robin by exiting the campus through a gas main pipe. Batman and Robin deduce the Red Hood had a breathable gas mask that allowed him to survive the gas.

Later that night, the Red Hood strikes the university again by trying to steal from the museum exhibit. When Batman and Robin give chase, the Red Hood again appears to escape when Batman and Robin accidentally tackle the school gardener, Earl Benson, thinking it was the Red Hood in the dark.

Batman decides to set a trap for the Red Hood by planting a false school newspaper story to entice the Red Hood to rob the university again. When the Red Hood takes the bait, Batman and Robin blind the Red Hood with red beams of light and catch him to reveal his identity as Earl Benson.

Joker's Origin

Batman explains to the college crime fighting class that Earl is only an imposter. Earl explains how he stole the costume from the real Red Hood after he caught him escaping the university from the gas pipe. He tied the real Red Hood up in the tool shed for a reward but instead decided to use the Red Hood identity to commit crimes and not get blamed for them.

Earl brings everyone to the tool shed where they discover the Joker tied up. The Joker reveals to everyone that after he dived into the vat of chemicals those many years ago, his hood helped him survive the swim but the chemicals drastically changed his appearance to look like an evil clown. Realizing he could terrify people with his new appearance, and also paying tribute to the card company that helped the transformation, he called himself the Joker.

This issue includes a one-page "Jerry the Jitterbug" humor strip by Henry Boltinoff.

Trivia

The origin of the Joker is first revealed in this issue. Before the accident which turned him into a psychotic clown, the Joker was a small-time thief known as the Red Hood. An updated version of the Red Hood origin was provided in the 1988 Alan Moore one-shot special Batman: The Killing Joke. In recent years, former sidekick Jason Todd has retired his teen identity of Robin and adopted the guise of the Red Hood.

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